How can Google+ help your SEO and marketing?

Last week saw the release of vital information about Google+ and the developments that have been in progress with the search engine’s secretive algorithm.

There’s no doubt that you will have heard of Google+ and its extraordinary beginnings, (the fastest growth in its first month of any social network ever) but have you been introduced to the unique benefits that Google+ adds to your SEO position in search engine results?

Google have claimed that they want the search results to be a true representation of organic results and are consequently penalizing over-optimised sites, so that the truly relevant sites are the ones that show on the appropriate search terms. As part of the ‘organic’ search results, Google have shown a ‘little’ precendence to their own content.

A change to the Google search result layout, integrating Google’s own social network, will not only mean high ranking for those who haven’t just logged into Google+ once to claim their names, but also for advertisers purchasing adwords. The right hand side panel will now form a column that is dedicated to status’s from Google+ members related to the search term typed in, and also the adwords adverts as they were previously situated. The aim of this particular change is to give benefits to advertisers who have previously seen only 10%-50% click rate when their ad is shown down the right hand section. The integration of Google+ to the side column should encourage more clicks and lead to more sales.

Currently we won’t be able to take advantage of the new system everywhere, as it is only available for Google owned sites, this said, it is clear that Google intends to make more impact upon our searching habits and will roll out the new format in time.

As Google+ is definitely reigning in importance of the social networks due to its direct influence on one of the world’s most popular search engines, it is essential that you get on with making your page right now! Make sure you include all your relevant information, with lots of keywords so that you rank highly (but not too many that your content becomes unreadable). Keep your page branding consistent with your website. Although you don’t have a complete free reign on the appearance, you do have some elements to play with. Take the long picture across the top, this can be a great place to display a photo of your offices, your logo or some staff pictures. As Google+ has essentially copied Facebook’s new layout, you could even replicate your Facebook page using the same cover photo for consistency and ease.

As Google owns Youtube, don’t forget that your videos will also receive precedence in search rankings, getting your content to the top of the results list and seen by more people. Don’t worry too much about how professional your videos are, as long as the message is good then the video will spread on its own merit.

If you have a blog, which you most probably do, this is obviously a great start to your SEO. With Google+s influence as it is, however, having a ‘+1′ button and a sharing button on each post is essential to encourage them to be shared on the network which will help SEO and link directly back to your site. Post your blog posts onto your Google+ page too to help you get even closer to the top of the search results.

Despite the push Google is placing onto Google+, remember that unlike the other social networks, people are on there merely to be there, and don’t necessarily use the page to chat and converse with other users. With this in mind, broadcast the existence of your Google+ page on your other networks to encourage others to add you to their circles, or even create an account for themselves to discover what all the fuss is about.

All this can take a bit of work, so in order to make sure that you know that you are getting a decent ROI, there needs to be methods in place to measure the impact of your networks. Whether its looking into the analytics provided, or reading through comments you have received, it can all help you to see where you are succeeding and where could be improved.

If SEO seems like another language, get in touch with us, or drop into our office in Mansfield for a crash course chat!